2026 Featured Artist: Nell Pierce

Nell Pierce (they/them) is a collage artist, community muralist and teaching artist who uses art as a tool for healing and shifting narrative power. Nell has been a teaching artist for over fifteen years, supporting people in schools, community centers, prisons, and other settings to shape personal and collective narratives through visual art and theater. They currently teach art courses for adults out of the studio they share with their collective, Studio Thalo. As a muralist, they've collaborated on over twenty-five murals and fifty live paintings that aim to amplify social justice movements. In their personal practice, they’ve created paintings and collages on commission since 2010 inspired by clients’ personal stories. Since 2019, they’ve focused on Q’llage, a project engaging their queer community through interviews, workshops, and large-scale collages exploring how the strategies that support queer folks to stay true to themselves are mirrored in other parts of nature.

Sunday, August 30th from 12pm - 2pm

Geared towards ages 16+

Instructor: Nell Pierce

Location: Festival Grounds (rain back up location will be the Austin ArtWorks Center Clay Cavern)

During this workshop, you will be invited to create an 8”x8” collage exploring your experience of gender, sexuality, family and/or love. Nell will guide the group through warm-up exercises and teach basic techniques before everyone dives into books, magazines, colorful paper, and creative intuition. People of ALL identities and experience levels are welcome!

As the basis for their multi-year project, Q’llage, Nell conducted over 100 hours of interviews with LGBTQ2IA+ folks in MN about their “coming in” stories – asking about they continuously come into their truths around gender, sexuality, family and love and listening for strategies they use to listen to their gut in the midst of societal pressure and violence. Nell’s collages highlight those strategies and celebrate people who, in carving new paths, till the soil for all of us be more free.